Research on Third Brake Light for Ford F150

If you own an old Ford pickup, and you are trying to figure out if a 2003 Ford F150 third brake light bulb will fit on a 2001 Ford F150 third brake light bulb housing assembly, try to take comfort in the fact that you have a third brake light at all. While brake lights first appeared in 1904, it took some time for them to catch on. It was 1928 before the first legal requirements for brake lights were passed, and then only in eleven states. For the first half of the twentieth century, safety concerns tended to be out of sight and out of mind for the driving public, who were content to enjoy the ongoing improvements that Detroit kept offering them. If anyone thought about it much, they might have said that since new car and truck designs were closely associated with better performances, that must mean better safety as well. In the 1960's, Ralph Nader yanked the covers off of Detroit's policy of benign neglect towards vehicle safety features, and the public learned that it needed to pay attention.

A Mystery From San Francisco

With a new emphasis on safety followed since Nader's work, car lights have come a long way. In engineering language, what do you call the third brake light? If you want the technical term, they are called the center high mount stop lamps, or CHMSL's. Their inventor is unknown, but we do know that a psychologist named John Voevodsky was the first to publicize it, installing it in 343 taxicabs in San Francisco in 1973. The tests were a great success and the Big Three automakers took notice quickly. Today, the law insists that every vehicle on the road, from the little electric Leafs to the Mack trucks of the commercial world, keeps a working third brake light mounted and visible somewhere in its rear area. This is not a part you can ignore, and just as that dead headlamp will sooner or later earn you a ticket, to add to the cost of replacement, that dead third brake light bulb will do the same. When a 2010 Ford F150 bulb burns out, you are better off getting a new 2010 Ford F150 third brake light assembly than to ignore the problem.

Avoid the Legal Problems of Customization

It can also be said that a third brake light is not an item that the law encourages you to customize. The shape and brightness and color of this light should be let as originally designed, because the safety concerns involved can make for some very strict interpretations of what is and isn't okay. If a customized Ford F150 3rd brake light bulb size seems comically large or small to you, it may strike the police officer riding behind you the same way. Remember that you can have these lights customized only if the work is done by a certified dealer or has DOT approval.

Single Parts or Complete Assemblies?

When you go online for a Ford F150 third brake light cover or gasket or bulb, you will be able to get it within a nice range of low prices. Narrowing your purchase down to a couple of simple parts, rather than buying the entire assembly package, will cut costs by fifty percent. A reputable parts trader like PartsGeek.com will be able to offer you these items for between $33 and $85, and the part is simple enough that labor cost should be at the minimum one hour, or lower.